We should encourage people to learn the Shurangama Sutra and
Mantra.
The Shurangama Mantra helps to open wisdom. With wisdom we won’t
do muddled things.
The Shurangama Sutra emphasize precepts in the chapter on the
four clear instructions of purity, which we ought to follow. It
will improve our precept holding.
It doesn’t mean that we don’t study the Shurangama Sutra and Mantra
because we are afraid of something and just keep the five precepts
and we will be fine. It’s the same as the people saying that they
don’t want to hold the five precepts or study Buddhism because they
want to continue to drink, womanize, kill, steal etc. If everybody
thinks this way, how can they become Arhats, Bodhisattvas, Buddhas
in the future. And because they think they are not holding precepts
so it’s fine to commit them once in a while, twice in a while etc.
they will not refrain themselves and commit transgressions. We all
know that only by observing precepts do we get a human body.
It’s is not appropriate to state that the Shurangama sutra and
mantra are not for the faint hearted. Why are people faint hearted
when they see the Sutra? Because they can’t keep the precepts or
the teachings of the Sutra. We have to face our own faults and
change them, not claim the Dharma as unsuitable for us because we
are unwilling to change.
Nowadays, people are always talking about lofty states of mind
and no one is emphasizing on precepts which is something that is
very important. From beginners to the most advance practitioners,
precepts are the foundation for samadhi. everyone should strive to
observe precepts purely.
I would recommend Shurangama Sutra to people with some basic
understanding of Buddhism at least, but not to an absolute
beginner.